I admit I haven't been keeping more than a casual eye on current events in the chocolate industry these days, so thank you for the clarifications, Elizabeth.<br><br>Jean -- A few years ago, Pauline Tiffin, one of the founders of the Fair Trade
Federation, was working as a consultant for World Bank on a project to
enable supply chain access via co-marketing and co-shipping of cacao for
small farmers in the Caribbean region. I'm not exactly sure where that
project stands now, but the fair trade chocolate market has been growing
modestly and steadily over the years, more so in Europe than here in
America. The British-owned Cadbury brand announced their intentions to
source 100% fair trade but was quickly caught up in a bidding war
between Hershey and Kraft, a bit of a hostile take-over by Kraft in the
end and now no one sees press about a major label going fair trade
anymore. I am not sure how Kraft or Hershey intend to do business with
farmers but they do move a huge amount of product sustaining who knows
how many? hundreds of thousands of farmers. The certified or registered
"fair trade" label isn't very welcome here in the US. I hope US chocolate companies
can earn a reputation for independently doing good business. <br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Nov 12, 2010 at 12:48 PM, Jean Giblette <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:hfg@capital.net">hfg@capital.net</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;"><div style="word-wrap: break-word;">
Jennifer, good point. But I did not disavow the possibility of a benign contribution or intervention on the part of plant scientists. What bothers me is how we all seem bedazzled by more abstract (and expensive) technologies -- and the entities who profit from them -- at the expense of humbler, less costly methods. Even if we do diversify cacao through tissue culture (and I hope so), where are the resources to convey those gains, to help those farmers stay on their land? That's a social problem. Follow the money -- and money flow is always preceded by Qi (including attention, focus, intention and will) -- it's going to the wrong places.<div>
Jean</div><div><div></div><div class="h5"><div><br><div><div>On Nov 12, 2010, at 11:51 AM, Jennifer Chesworth wrote:</div><br><blockquote type="cite">Jean, in the case of cacao you are mistaken. Several years ago, chocolate manufacturers experienced a crisis when they discovered the stock of almost ALL global plantations (and small holdings) of cacao were descended from the seed of a single cacao plant brought to Martinique by the French in 1660. All plantations were similarly resilient or not to any number of diseases, and a single plague could devastate the entire industry. "Maintaining resilience" of cacao requires tissue culture, something most small holders cannot achieve on their own.<br>
<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Nov 12, 2010 at 11:47 AM, Jennifer Chesworth <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:cafesombra@gmail.com" target="_blank">cafesombra@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;">
<br><div><div> <br><div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Nov 12, 2010 at 11:27 AM, Jean Giblette <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:hfg@capital.net" target="_blank">hfg@capital.net</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;">
<div style="word-wrap: break-word;"> <div>Thanks, Robin.</div><div><br></div>Quoted from the Independent article:<div><br></div><div>"<span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px;">Despite price rises on the trading floor, precious little reaches the smallholders who make up 95 per cent of growers, according to Mr. Lass, a former Cadburys trader and ethical sourcing advisor who has co-authored a book on the cocoa industry.</span><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; line-height: 11px;">
<font style="font: 12px Verdana; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" color="#333333" face="Verdana" size="3">"These smallholders earn just 80 cents a day," he says. "So there is no incentive to replant trees when they die off, and to wait up to five years for a new crop, and no younger generation around to do the replanting."</font></p>
<div><div>Note the main thrust of these articles, which is to celebrate the genome sequencing in hopes that a genetic engineering "solution" will be found, when all we have to do is incentivize the farmers to replant on a regular basis and to maintain/enhance the resilience of the small holdings.</div>
<div><br></div><div>These articles portray the microcosm of what's wrong with medicinal plant production worldwide: the growers are neither adequately compensated nor rewarded for good stewardship. At the same time, industrial ag (including its ultimate manifestation, genetic engineering) displaces the growers. These dynamics are based on social constructs, and social constructs can be revised.</div>
<div><br></div><div>Meanwhile, Mother Nature is waiting to reward us with chocolate and all the abundance of the fertile earth. All we have to do is follow her lead and cooperate with her. Why is this so hard for us to understand?</div>
<div><br></div><div>Jean</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>On Nov 12, 2010, at 10:50 AM, MoonBranch Botanicals wrote:</div><br><blockquote type="cite"><div style="margin: 0px;">Chocolate Black Hole; Chocolate consumption is increasing faster than production, meaning the future will probably be less chocolaty....</div>
<div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-11/future-chocolate-will-be-rare-delicacy-analysts-say" target="_blank">http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-11/future-chocolate-will-be-rare-delicacy-analysts-say</a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/features/chocolate-worth-its-weight-in-gold-2127874.html" target="_blank">http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/features/chocolate-worth-its-weight-in-gold-2127874.html</a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-09/sweet-breakthrough-scientists-led-candy-company-sequence-chocolate-genome" target="_blank">http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-09/sweet-breakthrough-scientists-led-candy-company-sequence-chocolate-genome</a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br></div><div style="margin: 0px;">Robin Alton Suggs</div><div style="margin: 0px;">
MoonBranch Botanicals</div><div style="margin: 0px;">5294 Yellow Creek Road</div><div style="margin: 0px;">Robbinsville, North Carolina 28771<span> </span></div><div style="margin: 0px;">USA</div><div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;">
<br></div><div style="margin: 0px;">Telephone: 828.479.2788</div><div style="margin: 0px;">Email: <a href="mailto:moonbranch@earthlink.net" target="_blank">moonbranch@earthlink.net</a></div><div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;">
<br></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="http://www.moonbranch.com" target="_blank">www.moonbranch.com</a></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span> </span>&</div><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="http://www.localharvest.org/store/M16074" target="_blank">www.localharvest.org/store/M16074</a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br></div><div style="margin: 0px;">Member:</div><div style="margin: 0px;">Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project; Farm Partner</div><div style="margin: 0px;">Green Products Alliance<span> </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">North Carolina Consortium on Natural Medicines<span> </span></div><div style="margin: 0px;">North Carolina Goodness Grows/NCDA&CS<span> </span></div><div style="margin: 0px;">Southwestern North Carolina RC&D Council</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">United Plant Savers</div><div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br></div><div style="margin: 0px;">“If people let government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny.”</div>
<div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br></div><div style="margin: 0px;">- Thomas Jefferson</div><div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;">
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</blockquote></div><br><font color="#888888"><div> <span style="font-size: 12px;"><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><div>
Jean Giblette, Owner</div><div>HIGH FALLS GARDENS</div><div>Box 125 Philmont NY 12565</div><div>518-672-7365, <a href="mailto:hfg@capital.net" target="_blank">hfg@capital.net</a></div><div><a href="http://www.highfallsgardens.net" target="_blank">www.highfallsgardens.net</a></div>
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<br> Disclaimer<br> Any advice given on this list regarding diagnosis or treatments etc. reflects ONLY the opinion of the individual who posts the message. The information contained in posts is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice relative to your specific medical condition or question. All medical and other healthcare information that is discussed on this list should be carefully reviewed by the individual reader and their qualified healthcare professional. Posts do not reflect any official opinions or positions of the Plant Conservation Alliance. <br>
</blockquote></div><br> </div></div><br></blockquote></div><br></blockquote></div><br><div> <span style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><div>
Jean Giblette, Owner</div><div>HIGH FALLS GARDENS</div><div>Box 125 Philmont NY 12565</div><div>518-672-7365, <a href="mailto:hfg@capital.net" target="_blank">hfg@capital.net</a></div><div><a href="http://www.highfallsgardens.net" target="_blank">www.highfallsgardens.net</a></div>
<div><br></div><br></span></span></span><br> </div><br></div></div></div></div></blockquote></div><br>